Ordered nanocomposite materials hold great promise as optical and photoelectronic devices, sensors, and catalyst supports, see for example Kamenetzky, E. A.; Mangliocco, L. G.; Pinzer, H. P.; Science 1994, 263, 207; Yablonovitch, E.; Phys. Rev. Lett. 1987, 58, 2059; S. John, ibid., 2486. One previously demonstrated approach to producing functionalized polymer-based nanocomposite materials in ordered arrays is disclosed in Kumacheva, E.; Kalinina, O.; Lilge, L.; Adv. Mat. 1999, 11, 231.
A critical stage in this approach is the assembly of colloid particles in three dimensional crystalline arrays. A reduction in particle dimensions and a substantial dilution of the latex dispersions favor ordering of latex microspheres upon their sedimentation. Similar effects were observed in settling dispersions of silica particles as disclosed in Davis, K. E.; Russel, W. B.; Glantschnig, W. J.; J. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans. 1991, 87, page 411. A serious drawback of the colloid crystal growth from settling dilute dispersions is associated with long sedimentation times that may range from several days to few months, see for example Mayoral, R.; J. Requena, J.; Moya, J. S.; Lopez, C.; Cintas, A.; Miguez, H.; Moseguer, F.; Vazquez, L.; Holdago, M.; Blanco, A. Adv. Mater. 1997, 9, 257; and Zahidov et al.; Science 1998, 282, 897. As disclosed in Kumacheva, E.; Kalinina, O.; Lilge; L., Adv. Mat. 1999, 11, 231, in order to obtain nanocomposite films with the thickness varying from 2 to 10 mm, the sedimentation was carried out for the time periods ranging from few days to few weeks. Any forced concentration of the latex dispersions, such as centrifugation, vacuum filtration, or rapid solvent evaporation, induce distortions in particle arrangement.
Crystallization of microspheres in steady shear conditions has long been known, however, this method is usually used for producing two-dimensional particle arrays or small-scale three-dimensional systems as disclosed in Denkov, N. D.; Velev, O. D.; Kralchevsky, P. A.; Ivanov, H.; Yoshimura, H.; Nagayama, K.; Nature 1993, 361, 26; and Kim, E.; Xia, Y.; Whitesides, G. M.; Adv. Mat. 1996, 8, 245. Utrasonication of settling dispersions enhances particle packing, see Krieger, I. M.; Hiltner, P. A.; in Polymer Colloids, Ed. R. M. Fitch, Plenum Press, London, 1971, p. 63, but no information exists to what extent variation in frequency or displacement influences the organization of microspheres.
Application of lateral oscillatory motion to a container of hard glass beads resulted in crystalline packing of the beads, as disclosed in Pouliquen, O.; Nicolas, M.; and Wiedman, P. D.; Crystallization of Non-Brownian Spheres under Horizontal Shaking, Physical Review Letters, Vol. 79, No. 19, p. 3640-3643.
It is very desirable to have simple and efficient methods for preparing structures comprised of nanoparticles, such as colloidal particles, that are ordered on a macroscopic scale, including thin film and particularly three dimensional periodic arrays. Therefore, there is a need for a method of rapidly and economically producing three dimensional assemblies of particles in ordered arrays.